If it’s only when people are leaving that they can tell the truth in an organisation, then we have a problem.

And yet that’s often the way it seems to be.

If it’s only when there’s no longer anything at stake that people can be real, then we’re going to suffer from the consequences of ill-informed decisions.

It takes a lot of effort and leadership presence to ensure people feel safe telling the truth—to counteract the fearful nature of human beings. And we need to be ready to hear things which might be painful.

How do you encourage the honesty you need in your organisation?

Not by making people scared, that’s for sure.

W. Edwards Deming said “Wherever there is fear, there will be wrong figures.”